Mohave County miner., 1887-01-02
SILVER IN HIS THROAT
a Boy Coughs up I'aif~Doliar rhrss
4 Months After He Partly Swallowed

4 :
collar-button whieh ne carried in Lii
mouth while romping with school mates,
said o well-known physician, '.fecalli
q singular case that came within 20,
Experience several years ago. Ithappen
ed In Peaoedale,a pretty khodc Islai,e
village just across the bay from Nara
ga1set Pier. Willie Booth. 0 years old
was sent by bis mother to neighborin,
grocery. She gave him silver hal
dollar for some small purchases, and h
prevent the little fellows losing il, sIts
Booth tied the money In eoracr d sIi.
handkerchief. Willie ran down tho noad
swinging the handkerchief in bis right
hand and shouting A few rods frcn
The house he stumbled and aifnosa fell
He had been shouting at his4 ioudest a
moment before. As he Hanged forward
he threw out his right i,and 10 save him.
sell. At the same instant the han.dollar
which Mrs. Booth had evidently tipd
loosely, fipped out of the handkerchisl
and into YIllie's mouth. He regaine
his equilibrium, but came near choking
to death.
Gle cossghed until he grew dizzy and
staggered like drunken person, bnt lie
coul1 not eject the silver piece. Some
how he made his way back home and
tottered into The house. Mrs. Root.,
peered into bis threat, bet could moi sEse
the half-doilar, She J pounded Oh The
little fellows bsek in tste way ca5toIaary
with choking persons. Willie bneatica
more freely, but the ha.i-doliar did rot
come. Them MYG Booth ran ios tie
village doctor. Wien they reached ihe
house a few minntes later, Willie felt
much better. The 'sirangling sensation
was gone and he hrcatted as nsgal, with
ti'e exception, that there seemed, lac said,
TO be big lump just above his collar
bone. The doctor made careful ex-
animation Of the boys throat He failed
10 find the coin, aud concluded IL had
passed into the stomach. Willie very
stoutly declared that he could still feel
II in his throat. This, however, the DOC
tor attributed 10 the little fellows imagi.
nation. He therefore administered a
strong Physic and departed. He called
every day FOR week, bat nothing Was
seen of the coin, which Willie repeatedly
protested was not in his stomach, hut in
his throat, where he could fell it,
"a few days afterward the doctor
CHANGED to be at Narragansett Pier,
where / was stopping. We met, and
after describing the ease he asked me to
Writ Peacedale and assist in a second
examination OF the boys throat. did
so, and together we probed carefully and
thoroughlp for the half-dolIar. We
could not find trace OF it, At the, point
just above the esophaegus, where Willie
continued to insist that he could plaiftly
feel the coin, there was not the slightest
lump or swelling. ] agreed With my
friend that the half-dollar was in the
boys stomach. After discussing the case
however, We called in a widely-known
Providence surgeon also infinitely ex-
apined the boys throat. He indorsed
our opinion that Willie had swallowed
the silver piece. Stronger physics were
now administered, and the next day we
tried violent emetic. Both expedierts
failed. II was manifest that the cein
could be removed only by an extremely
difficult and dangerous surgical opera
tion. No argument could induce the
family to consent TO this.
THAT the boy would die Ct slow cor
eosiye poisoning seemed inevitable. In |
fact, he began 10 waste perceptibly with
in fortnight. remained at the Pier |
six weeks, and was so interested in the
case that drove over to see little Wilt |
every few days. At the end Of monIh |
be was thin, weak, and colorless. When
SishpS1 JAIN W Sfth olh iS "ab Su1l'
ply shadow. Ny friend the Peaeedale
doctor, wrote me several times about the
Ease. Each letter said little Willie was
thinner and weaker It was now the
middle OF November, fully twelve weeks
since the boy swallowed the half.dollar,
md was surprised that he had lived 70
long.
'The following week was still more
by letter saying the coin had
tssen recovered. The way it originally
Few into the boys mouth had been re-
enough, but the manner OF its
was almost incredible.
The boy had actually eoughed up the
lalf-dollar. Owing to his sickly con-
iition the family had shown him every
Indulgence. Among other things an the
lays grew colder he was allowed to wash
very morning in basin placed on a
hair near the kitchen stove. While
Washing thus one morning violent fit
4 coughing seized him, and during ii the
Ialf-d0llar flew from his mouth into $!e
'asin. The silver piece was as black
= the stove lid. Impossible as it may
eern the large coin had been lodged for
hree months in the little fellows throat, {
nd so peculiarly placed that the most Z
killful search could not reveal it's pres {
nee. 1t il not strange, therefore, that i
oung Doelger's death was at first at .
1buted to heart disease, and an autopsy ,
as required to disclose the fact that he